A few weeks ago I noticed a bit of noise and then a wandering feeling in the rear wheels of my '87 300D while driving. I was afraid it was wheel bearings and posted a thread about diagnosing where the loose connection was.

It turns out that the trailing arm bushings were shot. I took it to Firestone and told them the symptoms. They confirmed the bushings were bad and so last weekend I started replacing them. When I took the driver side trailing arm off the center metal portion of the bushings fell out of both. So they definitely were bad! Passenger side wasn't much better except for the bushing close to the differential. It was worn but not as loose as the others. I still replaced it though it was hell getting it out of the trailing arm.

Pressing the bushings in was simple. I stuck them all in a deep freezer for a few hours and before I pressed them into the trailing arm using a homemade press, I covered them liberally with personal lubricant. It's always kind of funny going to a big store and buying a bunch of auto supplies, cleaning stuff and a bunch of tubes of water based lube.

I thought I'd be smart and replace the original CV boots while I was at it cause the ones on the car had cracks. Well, I found out the cracks were only on the surface but not after cutting through them. I only did the passenger side boots after I saw the condition of the originals and so left the driver's side alone. I replaced them with crappy Dorman boots and attempted to use gear oil instead of CV grease. That was a mistake. The differential side boot pinched right when I got the axle back in the diff and started leaking. That was last Sunday.

So today I cleaned out the CVs on that axle with a few cans of brake cleaner, let them dry out and packed the CVs with grease. As others have noted, there isn't enough grease in that little blister pack that comes with a CV boot kit. I had a few spares and all told I used 2.5 blisters of grease per CV joint. Got that back in the car, clipped the CV end into the diff carrier, placed the other side in the hub and was good to go there.

Considering the PITA that getting those boots on was, next time I'll completely rebuild the axles with new crimped cans, use original MB boots and fill the CVs with oil. I have a feeling that the oil in these CVs is better than grease, but then again, I trust Mercedes, considering that the car has lasted almost 300 miles so far.

I replaced the rear differential mount while I was at it as well as the anti-sway bar links. Diff cover back on with some silicone sealant in there. Waited a few hours (about 4) then filled the diff and went to work on a few other things in the car.

Just took a test drive a bit ago and there is no looseness feeling anywhere. No clunking in the CV joints and I checked them for cracks or tears after driving a bit.

So the old girl is coming together nicely! I'm hoping that the bushings I've replaced last as long as the original ones. By then, the next time they need replacement, the car will be almost 70 years old.

I'm going to do an oil change next weekend as well as coolant flush and change. I'm heading on a nearly 2000 mile trip to Vancouver, Washington in a couple weeks and want to start out on fresh fluids (tranny JUST got torque converter drained, new filter and fluid.)

Only a few more weeks here then I'm on the road. I might drive to California and take the coast highway up.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson